House Committee Drafts Compromise on NASA Spending Bill

by Amy Klamper, Space News | September 23, 2010 06:03pm ET

WASHINGTON
? House Science and Technology Committee
Chairman Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) has drafted a new version of the
three-year NASA
authorization bill the panel approved in July that recommends
substantive
changes to the original measure, including more money for commercial
space
taxis and robotic exploration precursor missions called for in a
companion
measure approved by the full Senate in August.

"This
is House compromise language, with bipartisan
support," Gordon said in a statement today (Sept. 23). "It reflects
months of discussion and input from many Members. As a result, we
believe we
have a bill that both builds on and improves on H.R. 5781, the NASA
Authorization Act that was marked up by the Science and Technology
Committee
earlier this year. Moreover, we believe this compromise helps move the
discussion about the future of NASA closer to a final product." [NASA's
New Direction: FAQ]

Gordon's
revised
legislation,
which aides said could go to the House
floor this week as a substitute to H.R. 5781, increases proposed
funding levels
for NASA commercial crew taxis to $1.2 billion over three years. That
figure is
still $400 million shy of the Senate's $1.6 billion recommendation for
commercial crew and cargo initiatives, but represents a sizeable
increase over
the original $464 million through 2013 recommended in H.R. 5781.

Gordon's
substitute legislation also calls for initiating
a robotic precursor program in 2011, recommending $50 million annually
through
2013. The earlier House proposal sought to delay funding for robotic
precursor
missions, calling for just $5 million in 2013 to initiate the program.

The
revised bill also directs NASA to begin planning a new
space launch system
for exploration beyond low-Earth orbit that
by the end of 2016 can provide "assured government back-up access" to
the international space station should commercial cargo or crew
services be
unavailable. However, the new language would prevent the
government-owned
capability from competing with commercial
space providers
for routine cargo and crew delivery
services.

Although
the revised House bill puts no timetable on
developing the heavy-lift capability for missions beyond the space
station, it
calls for the new exploration architecture to "provide a scalable
capability of lifting payloads of at least 130 metric tons into low
Earth orbit
on a single launch vehicle with an upper stage in preparation for
transit for
missions beyond low-Earth orbit."

It
also directs NASA to leverage space shuttle
technologies as well as its $10 billion investment in the Moon-bound
Constellation program the White House seeks to abandon.

The
Senate's version of the NASA
authorization bill,
S. 3729, calls for starting development in
2011 of a space shuttle-derived launcher initially capable of lifting
between
70 metric tons and 100 metric tons to low Earth orbit by the end of
2016. The
Senate language directs that the vehicle be designed to accommodate
upgrades
that would enable it to deliver 130 metric tons to orbit.

Gordon's
original bill called for funding a
government-owned rocket and spacecraft capable of delivering astronauts
to the
space station by the end of 2015.

The
revised House language authorizes the additional
launch-on-need shuttle flight adopted in the Senate bill and calls for
$2.67
billion for NASA's proposed space technology program, including $1.9
billion
over three years for exploration technology development.

It
also authorizes $45 million through 2013 for a
commercial suborbital research program involving reusable rockets to
support
science, technology development and education, according to the bill
summary.